The wide-ranging plans include the demolition of 1,000 houses in Limerick's most deprived areas. As the houses to be knocked down have yet to be announced, some residents have expressed concern. The plans have met with a degree of opposition and some people have moved from the areas as a result.

Allen Meagher Working in the Moyross area for seven years "There's a massive double wall half a mile long that separates Moyross from Limerick Institute of Technology. Having a third-level institution separated by a wall from one of the greatest pockets of social exclusion just doesn't ring true in 2007. If the college is committed to social inclusion, it should knock the wall or it should be done as part of the regeneration plans.

"I might not be a local here but I've become very attached to Moyross. After Millie and Gavin were horrifically burned here last year, the whole community was shocked to its core. That incident acted as a catalyst because if something hadn't been done, the place would have been sunk. The fact that we got a regeneration plan with pretty much unlimited money is phenomenal because it has become so ghettoised.

Moyross is the biggest cul-de-sac in Europe, the road you drive in is the only way back out of it.

"Some people in Limerick have a better idea about what's going on in Mozambique than up the road in Moyross. We have to tread very carefully with these regeneration plans. They messed up the regeneration of Ballymun because they didn't involve the people, and we have to make sure that doesn't happen here.

This is about the community, not infrastructure.

"Some people aren't happy about the plans and will leave or have already left. The criminal gangs I'm sure are very unhappy about the plans for extra policing.

"People have left for other reasons recently though too. The gangs push people out and people have been burnt out of their homes. I know one guy who was burnt out of his house for having an affair with the wrong woman.

"I'm the editor of the national community development magazine Changing Ireland, based in Moyross.

We examine issues of poverty and exclusion, and it's appropriate that the office is based here. We're online too at www. changingireland. ie.

"I'd like for Moyross to become a place where every child here can look forward to the same set of opportunities in education, employment and socialising as children all over the country. To live their lives free from witnessing drug and alcohol abuse from a young age. A place where parents feel safe letting their kids play on the streets and they feel a sense of love from the community. The regeneration needs to ensure that people no longer have to put another address on their job applications. Those are the kind of things the plans really need to tackle, not just knock buildings.

"People from Moyross are seen with a mix of horror and mystification. In all my seven years here, I've never been attacked. The worst that's happened is my bike was stolen. I park my car outside the office every day and it's never been touched. A kid threw a stone at me once but I chased him on my bike and when I caught up with him I told him to never do that again. He never did. I wouldn't be here if it was dangerous.

"I've never been anywhere in the world with as much spirit. Of course there are major social problems. I don't know what makes the place proud, but it is. A library was recently opened here and they had 2,500 members within 11 weeks. So anyone who calls us illiterate gurriers can take a running jump.

"I have one major concern with the regeneration. With all the demolition, the community groups have to insist there is safety and security at the sites because of all the children.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a 12-yearold boy was killed when he was hit by a lorry coming out from a site where the local authority were knocking some derelict building across the road from where I work. With the massive demolition planned, we must be vigilant about safety. This place has seen enough tragedy."

Mary O'Connor From Southill "We've been so neglected for so long by the local authority, there is a sense of people not knowing if things can be put right. But things can and will, if locals from the community have a real input into decisions being made how we're going to transform the place.

"Despite all the problems here, there is a huge sense of community spirit and people are rallying together at the moment and are optimistic about the future. At the moment, there are community committees being set up to work with the developers. It's very exciting. We've been told to think big with our proposals and that's exactly what we're doing.

"I reared my children here and I didn't have any problems. They had good friends but I didn't let them wander around too much. It's a great community and you can rely on your neighbours. It's harder now for families raising children, it is more dangerous; but everywhere is more dangerous than it was 10 years ago. I've never felt threatened here. Southill doesn't have any problems that anywhere else doesn't.

"A lot of houses around here have been neglected and will now be demolished. Some people are leaving because of the demolition and for other reasons, but those who want to stay in the area have the right to stay and no one is being forced out because of the demolition. The boarded-up houses in the area are an eyesore and there is no way of putting it right, except to put them to the ground. I own my own home and for the moment, I'm remaining here.

"The physical appearance of Southill has to change, there's nothing nice about it. But it's not just physical changes, it's much more important than that.

"One thing that's vital is the development of education and training here for our young people. We have a great primary school for the children, but they have to travel to secondary school. Some children just aren't academic and some don't go to secondary school at all. That's why we need a training and education centre teaching them things like carpentry and welding. Often kids who aren't academic are very creative.

"It's hard to believe but there are no safe play areas for children here and it's an absolute disgrace. We need an all-weather multifunctional playground for small children.

"There needs to be far greater support for the elderly here too. If some older people's homes are to be demolished and they are being rehoused, simple things like bungalows should be built for them to live in rather than houses. A clubhouse should be developed where people can come together for meetings and social gatherings.

Even simple things like the purchasing of a community bus to bring people, particularly elderly people, up to visit people in Limerick Regional hospital. At the moment, you've to get a bus in the opposite direction and then a second bus to travel there, and it's too much for some people. I'd love to see a shopping village too and a social club and coffee shop for teenagers so they can meet somewhere to talk instead of hanging around the streets.

An indoor sports facility would be wonderful . . . we have to give our children somewhere to go and things to do.

"I'll be pushing for all those things.

The possibilities are endless and our attitude is, the sky's the limit. It's time to be positive after so much negativity. It's about time this happened and local involvement is the key. If you were building a house, you'd have to have input into how it should turn out. That's the same as what's happening in our community. At the end of the day, when all the work's been done, we'll be the people living in it."